Variance Kicked Me In The Nuts!!!

I moved up to the next level. I won the first one, right out the gate. Then I proceeded to get cold decked and took some pretty nasty beats to lose about 10 or so. I lost with AA versus K5 off, that one was fun. I was in early position and a loose player raised 3.5 times the blind. The player on his left called, and I re-raised the size of the pot. Both called and the flop came J-10-5. Good flop for aces, for the most part. The original raiser bet right out the size of the pot. I re-raised to put him in and he called with bottom pair. The turn brought a king and I was gone. It went that way pretty much the rest of the night. I lost with a pair of aces on the flop to a set on the river. I lost with AK versus AJ, QQ versus K8 off, and AA versus K4 off.
One thing I can't understand, is that everyone always tells you that players get better as you move up in stakes. However, I have noticed that the players at the next level are more idiotic and to me it seems like they have no clue what they are doing. The moves I saw some of the players make would make your jaw hit the floor. Raise with 85 off under the gun, not a horrible play, but then call an all in from an above average stack? The all in player had AK suited and the UTG fish caught an 8 on the turn. Again, raising with more than just premium hands is not a bad play. But you have to realize and understand that you should not be putting your tournament on the line with a weak hand like 85 off. I might be able to understand the play in a cash game, but even then you are just setting yourself up for failure.
There was one player, Hoangchau, he would push and re-raise with some very funky hands. I raised from the button twice with a strong ace the first time (AQ), and a weak ace the second time (A5 suited). Both times he came over the top of me and pushed all in. I didn't know what he was making these moves with, until I caught him in the blind. I had AA in the small blind and remembered that when I raised about 2.75 times the blind he would push in on me. So I raised the same amount and sure enough, he pushed in again. I called and he had 66. Again, why would you risk your entire tournament with the blinds small, you have an average stack and not much money invested in the pot. At best with 66 you could hope for is a coin flip. You should not put your tournament on the line with small blinds on a coin flip. But maybe that's just me. So, I'm down about $180 right now. So when I get back to the grind, hopefully I can make a comeback. I'm just gonna take a little time to let the cards settle, let myself cool down a little bit and give myself some time to get my head back in the game.